Laura & Garrett’s budget- and kid-friendly wedding

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 | Photography by Seriously Sabrina Photography
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The Offbeat Bride: Laura, Makeup Artist (and Tribesmaid)

Her offbeat partner: Garrett, Waste Water Tech

Date and location of wedding: The Ole French Restaurant, Glasgow, KY — October 20, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Garrett and I have been together for eight years. We own a house together and we have a three-year-old son. In our minds, we're already married. This was just the celebration and legalization of it all. My budget was pretty minuscule for the number of people I knew we'd have. My parents paid for the entire thing, since we were not in a financial position to do so. This included a wonderful photographer and an awesome second shooter, a hearty buffet of finger foods, the venue and all the fixins, the rehearsal dinner, attire, decorations, and our honeymoon night. Everything came in under $5,000 for 150 people!

He tried to eat them!

Zebras!

I told you…

Since we have a child ourselves, it was important to us that the wedding be kid-friendly. At our venue, there were animals that you can walk right up to, like camels, zebras, buffalo, and long horn cattle, just hanging out waiting for you to feed them grass. The owners of the venue love animals and they're treated fabulously. To my knowledge, nobody got spit on by a camel.

Super Shoes

Dresses

Blue Sky and Airplane

I'm also an admitted rainbow-holic, and so I knew I wanted my bridesmaids to be all in different colors. I LOVE the way that turned out.

Custom Invitations

Small details, like the favors (made by me), the invitations (printed by a local printmaker), the pies (homemade by our friends/family), the flowers (cut from my aunt's hydrangea bushes the day before) were all really important to me, even if others probably won't remember them.

Ceremony

Tell us about the ceremony:
I wrote our vows and based them off the five senses:

These are the hands that will hold you tight, through times of hardship or sorrow. These are the hands that will give you a high five in times of joy and victory. My eyes will see you for who you are. I will watch with you as our family grows and changes. I promise to listen to you and respect what you have to say, even when we disagree. I promise to stop and smell the roses with you. Together, we will cherish the little things and the big moments. Though life can sometimes be bitter, I know that spending the rest of my days beside you will make it all the more sweet.

Pies

Favors

Our biggest challenge:
I am a Type A control freak, but I went into this engagement and wedding planning making a promise to myself: that I would NOT be a bridethulhu, that I would ask for and let people help me, and that I would relax about details.

Problem is, where I had assumed that Garrett would be excited about helping me plan (and I was looking forward to his input), it turns out he just… wasn't. He was happy that the day was happening, but had basically no opinions on how everything went. It was hard to remain relaxed while still pretty much making all decisions myself, but in the end it worked out just fine, and we both loved the day.

My Dad

My favorite moment:
For me, the most meaningful moment was without a doubt my first dance with my dad. Though there were many special and emotional moments throughout the day, this one was by far the most emotional. I have known for around 15 years the song that I would dance with my daddy to on my wedding day, “I Still Believe in You” by Vince Gill. It was “our song” when it was released.

dad

In the two months prior to my wedding, my dad underwent two major heart surgeries. I wasn't sure that I would even get to dance with him several times in the past years, so when he heard the song start playing (he had no idea what song I'd picked), we both pretty much lost it. It was a special moment that I'll never forget.

Dancing

My funniest moment:
This picture:
Branham and his sucker

And my reaction:
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On rehearsal day, our son refused to walk down the aisle, much less stand up there with all the guys (he was one of Garrett's best men!), so I had zero expectations for how he would do on wedding day. Well, let me tell you, people with kids: suckers can be amazing. Branham not only walked down the aisle, but stood perfectly still and quiet for the entire ceremony… all because he had a sucker to lick. I had no idea that's what he was doing since he was standing behind Garrett, but we both cracked up when they announced us and we turned to see him there.

Phone Booth

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Comments on Laura & Garrett’s budget- and kid-friendly wedding

  1. OH MY GOSH!
    So, I teared up at the black and white shot of you and your dad…I’m getting married in July and I think this is one thing I’m truly looking forward too (besides the obvious lol)
    My fiance and I have a 2.5 yr old (he’ll be 3 at the wedding) and we are totally doing the Marvel shoes too as we all love it!
    The reaction you had to seeing your son was amazing! A sure keepsake!
    I love this wedding! It looked like a great time! 😀

  2. FANTASTIC! Congratulations from one native Glaswegian to another! We had our high school Senior class banquet at that venue. 🙂
    What is the story behind the exotic animal collection? We’ve been wondering about them for a year! Is it just a personal collection for the fun of it, or are they going to open a zoo??

    • How funny! Michael-Ray Elmore, the guy who owns the place, just really like animals and this basically gave him a reason to own some LOL! I don’t think they’re planning to add more. It’s pretty full already!

  3. This is so beautiful! I totally teared up because my dad has been looking forward to our first dance and I know that’s going to be a ridiculously emotional moment for me, too. Thanks for sharing!

  4. THOSE VOWS ARE GORGEOUS!!!! Beautiful, colorful, adorable wedding. Congratulations!

  5. So pretty so happy. Our kids is 12 so if I have to give him a lolly I’ll crack up too. We are having 13 kids at our wedding and a few babies. I love your whole thing. Very pretty looks super fun.
    I’m doing the de coupage Marvel shoe thing too how funny, glad to see it in action and thanks for the link on how to do it. I was just gonna wing it.
    My all time favorite picture of all your porn is the one you two are in the phone booth kissing. I love the bright colors and him leaning into you and how happy you both look.

  6. so glad I found this! have been worried about budget wedding, mine is a very low budget with finger food buffet also and I worry it will be boring!

  7. Love your wedding. Question: do you have a PDF or a site for the pie recipe book favors? The are so cute and my daughter is having pie for her wedding. This would be perfect to go with it.

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